|
Australians have a love affair with power catamarans. They’ve got a lot
going for them: stability, ride, rough water handling and, above all, lots of
interior volume for the length. Strangely, the concept has never really taken
off in New Zealand, possibly because imported Aussie cats have tended to be
expensive and (sometimes) rather poorly finished by New Zealand standards.
Perhaps these two offerings from Webster will change that perception. We spent a day boating and fishing out the back of Waiheke Island in two Twinfisher boats, a 4.3m runabout version powered by a Yamaha 50hp four-stroke and a top of the range 5.0m cuddy cabin model with a 90hp two-stroke Yammy. The fact that the boats are running single engines is significant: most power cats need two engines to perform properly. In the case of the Webster Twinfisher series, one engine is all they require — in fact they’re designed that way. As always, first impressions are important. We first saw the boats when they buzzed the Waiheke ferry as we entered Matiatia Harbour. At 4.3 and 5.0 metres respectively, neither is a big boat and they both looked quite insignificant as they leapt across the Quickcat’s large wake. On the other hand, it was clear the wake was not causing them any problems and we could see that they had plenty of room inside from our vantage point high up on the stern of the ferry. Once on board, with our gear stowed, interior room was doubly obvious. Although neither boat is unusually beamy (they’re quite beamy for their length), every bit of interior space is useful because the inside of the boat is like a box and without the sloping sides of most monohulls. Both boats featured an unusual alloy fuel tank mounted upright across the stern. The bigger boat’s tank holds 75-litres while the 4.3’s optional tank has a capacity of 45-litres. The 5.0m also has a battery shelf to keep things off the floor and there’s room down each side (into the sponsons) for extra storage. Both boats also have self-draining cockpits (draining outside, not into the bilge) and sealed sponsons. The 4.3m shipped a little water back through its retro-fitted scuppers at times due, I’d guess, to the extra weight of the four-stroke engine. The 4.3m is rated to 50hp and the Yamaha was right at the top of the range. The 5.0m will accept engines up to 115hp but the 90hp gave good performance. The cuddy is quite roomy, and with a beam of 2.1m carried all the way forward, it’s actually possibly to lie full length across the cuddy floor. A raised, carpeted platform is the extent of the features inside the cabin. A hatch opens onto the foredeck to access the anchor well, fairlead and substantial aluminium bollard. The smaller boat lacks a bollard (it’s an option), but there are plenty of rails to tie off on. Obviously, there’s much less room up forward in the smaller boat, but the amount of dry storage under the foredeck is considerable. On both boats it’s perfectly safe to walk around the side-decks to the checker-plate foredeck to work the ground tackle, provided sea conditions allow. We were not to be bothered by sea conditions today. There was a bit of southerly chopping up the channels, but around the back of the island the sea was perfectly flat apart from a gentle ocean swell. These were not the best conditions to check out the boat's abilities in the rough and we hoped the wind would get up a bit as the day drew on. The lovely conditions were a good opportunity to take the boats in close and fish the washes stirred up by the swell. We fished the Twinfishers close together prospecting a number of promising looking reef and bommie systems almost as far as the Bottom End. Although we tried a variety of baits and quite a bit of berley, decent snapper avoided us. The most success we had was with a big school of kahawai over the shallows at ‘the gap’. These ranged in size from around a kilo to over three and they took lures unhesitatingly. Mark and Ash in the 4.3 worked right in close and caught dozens of hard-fighting kahawai while Kevin and I stayed out a bit and persevered with the snapper fishing. From the distance we could see a sudden flurry of excitement on the other boat and not long afterwards they proceeded to slowly troll around the area. When they came close enough, Ash told us they had been beaten up by a couple of big kingfish which had tried to eat a kahawai Mark was playing. The kingfish, estimated to range between 15kg and 18kg, put the kahawai down and Mark and Ash decided to try slow-trolling a livie to see if they could catch one of the big predators. We decided to try out deeper for an elusive snapper and left then to it. Our next stop over the mud was equally unproductive. I was plagued by squid sucking on the baits. A change to a squid jig seemed to scare them away and we left the spot not long afterwards to try back in close again. Back at the island we anchored near a good-looking area of reef. This was a spot that had produced plenty of good fish for Kevin in the past. Unfortunately, with the bright, still conditions, I was a little cynical as to our chances in the middle of the day. Nevertheless, we persevered, as it was an excellent way to suss out the boat’s fishability. Fishability in both boats is exceptional. Mark reported that the 4.3 was amazingly roomy and uncannily stable. In fact, it was difficult to believe the boats were only 4.3m and 5.0m long respectively, such was the amount of fishing room. The bigger of the two boats has the advantage of higher sides, but even in the 4.3m they’re high enough to feel safe. Gunwales are wide enough to sit on and both boats feature swivelling pedestal seats of different design. On the 4.3 the seat backs also fold down. The helm positions are good on both boats. The 4.3m is meant to be steered sitting down, but the bigger boat can be steered standing or sitting. Steering effort is considerable (although not onerous), perhaps due to the twin-hull, single-engine configuration, and hydraulic steering may be worth considering on the bigger boat (it’s easy on the smaller vessel). Both boats handled well. Turns are executed with a minimum of fuss and (surprise, surprise) no cavitation unless the engines are trimmed right out. Both boats liked the engines trimmed out when running straight ahead. Like all cats, these boats lean out in the turns, which takes some getting used to. The boats back up quite well, too. Fit-out and finish is adequate although some of the welding up under the foredeck and gunwale areas looks a bit rough. Webster use specially imported top class Swedish aluminium to construct these boats. The 5.0m utilises 3mm thick material for the bottoms and 2mm for the sides and topsides; the 4.3 uses 2.5mm and 2mm respectively. All welds are stress-relieved after construction, then the boats are powder coated and oven baked. According to Kevin, paint surfaces are very durable and the boats are very resistant to corrosion. Still largely fishless, we moved again, this time anchoring off a point in deeper water. Fairly soon we began to get bites and a few barely legal snapper came aboard. Mark and Ash joined us soon after, without a kingfish and also having tried close-in for little success. They anchored beside us and started fishing, too. The current was running the wrong way to fish this spot easily. The wind had finally started to fill in and the boats kept sailing on the anchor (a less desirable feature of catamarans) making it difficult to strayline successfully. The solution was to tie the boats off the stern — a reasonably safe proposition in a catamaran with all its reserve buoyancy in the corners. This allowed us to fish back down the current and finally land a couple of decent snapper. Kevin also landed a very large conger eel which he thoughtfully released, rather than boated. Time was running short and the arrival of the razor gang (barracouta) brought our fishing day to an end. The wind had finally built enough to raise a bit of chop and I swapped over into the smaller boat for the 30-minute run back to Matiatia and the ferry. With a bit of sea to play in, it was now possible to better assess the boat's real abilities. In short, they’re very impressive. The 5.0m slowly drew away from us, but we were able to make excellent progress into a building chop. For a boat that’s less than 15-feet long, the ride was excellent. It’s soft, apart from the odd bang when waves hit the tunnel, and mostly dry. The only niggle was the persistent stream of drops sucked from between the hulls that seemed to find its way into my eyes (both boats). A little reverse on top of the screens might help. Generally, hard-out into a head sea is not a catamaran’s strongest suit. This was true of these two boats, though they weren’t bad. They were much better into a quartering sea (often a monohull’s weakest tack) and fine with the sea behind them. I tried a few high-speed turns in the chop and couldn’t upset the little 4.3m. I finally settled for a comfortable, seated ride home. The bigger boat beat us back, but not by much. We were able to exceed 30mph (indicated) all the way back without discomfort — a result I felt was pretty remarkable for such a small boat in the conditions. Obviously, when the going gets rough, you’d slow down; but the boats feel quite capable. Although it’s only 0.7 of a metre longer, the 5.0m feels much larger, and it is an awful lot of boat for its length. In a sea, it is just that bit more comfortable again. It feels more able, and by a bigger margin than the size differential would suggest. This boat is a serious fishing boat that can still be easily trailered from coast to coast, beach launched and otherwise handled with a minimum of fuss. It’s great to fish from, too. Specifications Twinfisher 5.0m Twinfisher 4.3m
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
